Want to try Bareknuckle pickups - recommendations needed

  • Thread starter Thread starter Econ
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Econ

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Hi folks,

I have a guitar with an alder body, bolt on maple neck/fingerboard and floyd rose trem that doesn’t have any pickups at the moment. I want to try some bareknuckle pickups, but don’t know which model I should get. Need a neck and bridge pickup combo. I play 80’s hard rock, Top 40, and some progressive/fusion type music. Most of my amps are high gain (Diezel, Mesa Boogie, Bogner, Friedman).

Any recommendations for a bareknuckle pickup combo would be greatly appreciated.
 
I'd go with The Mule set, or a Black Dog bridge + Mule neck. Crawler's are nice as well. I sold my Mule's, and went with a set of Custom Shop Pearly Gates. Best pickups I've ever played through a LP Custom. I'm not a fan of high-gain amplifiers, but I'm sure any of these would do nicely.
 
I have the vh2 and black dog in a cheapo Jackson 7 string. Insanely good pickups.

I want to try the war pigs and ragnaroks.
 
I have a bunch of BKP but my advice for that description is actually motor city hothead and whatever wade suggests match in the neck.

If must be bkp I like nailbomb and holy diver, but holy diver will be pretty thin id say in that guitar.
 
Econ":2trux73k said:
I'm thinking about going with the Black Dogs.
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Excellent choice! Like I mentioned, look into ordering a BD bridge and a Mule neck. This is a popular pairing.
 
Having tried many BK pickups in several Alder body bolt maple guitars I can tell you that for the style you mention the Crawler bridge would be my first choice , it sounds perfect in that wood combo. The Holy Diver would also be great and Im not sure why anyone would call it "thin" ....Its one of the thickest sounding BK pickups, leads are fat and juicy, rhythms are big. Crawler is similar I just like the voicing a little more. The new true grit pickup would be ok too its just more aggresive , has alot of bite. A couple others wouldnt be bad like Abraxas, Mule, Blackhawk. Ive tried almost every pickup they make, not to sound douchey , ......The crawler would be the safest bet though IMO
 
The Mule's were a bit too balanced for my needs. I like the pickups that impart some of their own character, rather, combine to create a unique sound. I nearly purchased a set of Crawler's, but ended up going with a set of custom shop Pearly Gates.

Check this... Listen to the entire clip. Best sounding HB's I've ever paired with a LP. The custom shop PG's use rough cast A2 magnets, which give them a bit more complexity compared to the production PG's. Both are great. They have a P90 character, without the noise.

https://www.guitarinteractivemagazine.c ... es-pickups
 
I like the Emerald neck and Cold Sweat bridge., I also really dig the Miracle man. I have this one in an Alder body paired with an Emerald neck. When Ab'ing I found quite a few of the models to lack punch. The two I listed do not. The Miracle Man is extremely articulate and not as high gain as you might think. It's also very organic., I found the Aftermaths and Juggernauts to be a little on the sterile side. I've tried most of them. I like Nailbombs, both Alnico and ceramic but I prefer the others listed for articulation in Alder maple maple, Floyd. Divers are ok. Crawlers, Rebel Yells same.
 
I’m thinking about the Blackdogs because I rather take advantage of my amps distortion capabilities (Diezel Herbert, Bogner Shiva, Friedman BE and Mesa Boogie JP2C).
 
With those amplifiers, you might consider an 80's era SD Distortion in the bridge position.

If they must be Alnico, Wolfetone Marshallhead would be a great choice. If you want less bottom, go with Marshallhead MK II's.
 
I called them up (Ben in this case) and described my gear and the tones I'm looking for and he was very helpful and knowledgeble, so I recommend you do what I did. They also make sure you don't forget to order the correct parts needed (pots etc.). I play heavy prog rock, Diezel as the core high gain tone (though gain usually between 10 and 12 o'clock - less is more), Boogie for leads and ended up with:

A set of Abraxas in a PRS Custom 24 (Mahagony body with maple top)
A set of Rebell Yells in a Custom guitar that is similar to a Les Paul (Walnut body with maple top)

Especially the Abraxas I have to work a bit, meaning more string attack for squeals etc., but both sing/scream and I'm extremely happy with them. Pricey but worth every penny. Hope this helps!
 
the4thlast1":fhuqnf8m said:
Having tried many BK pickups in several Alder body bolt maple guitars I can tell you that for the style you mention the Crawler bridge would be my first choice , it sounds perfect in that wood combo. The Holy Diver would also be great and Im not sure why anyone would call it "thin" ....Its one of the thickest sounding BK pickups, leads are fat and juicy, rhythms are big. Crawler is similar I just like the voicing a little more. The new true grit pickup would be ok too its just more aggresive , has alot of bite. A couple others wouldnt be bad like Abraxas, Mule, Blackhawk. Ive tried almost every pickup they make, not to sound douchey , ......The crawler would be the safest bet though IMO
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I called the diver thin because compared to almost all of my other BKP and MCP humbuckers it has a tighter less powerful bottom end. “Thinner”. Not to mention its alder AND a floyd. Maybe you had a different experience with your rig/guitars.

check the “graph” from BKP:

 

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With that setup I would go with a Friedman Classic Plus.
I had Nailbomb, Crawler. Mule, Abraxas, Rebel Yell, VHII. Apaches for start
Bare Knuckles are really articulate and clear sounding pickups, I still have a Holy Diver bridge in my Les Paul and it sounds great.
The Friedman has a hint of pissed off nastiness the Bare Knuckles miss and for the price it's a no brainer.
 
I've got Mule's in a LP, probably my favorite pickups I own. I was on the fence for a while with BKP because of price, but I can honestly say they're worth the money. Would love to try Black Dogs.
 
I just put a Cold Sweat in an alder/maple cap guitar and it's really good. Depending how much gain you're running a ceramic magnet will give you more clarity with more focused bottom end YMMV. I recall when I had a Diezel DMoll and an Suhr guitar with alder body and Alnico V magnet pickups that amp sounded terrible, was ready to dump it then swapped pickups to BKP Aftermath and the amp took on a whole different personality. The Alnico pups sounded furry where as the ceramic Aftermath were so much clearer and had much better pick attack. For high gain amps & alder guitars I'd go Cold Sweat or Aftermath.
 
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